1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector assembly, and more particularly to an electrical connector assembly incorporated with an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection. Said electrical connector assembly features a plurality terminal contacts on which the ESD protection device is supported and electrically interconnected with the terminal contacts thereby protecting a printed circuit board on which the electrical connector assembly is mounted.
2. Description of the Related Art
USB (Universal serial bus) has been widely used and adopted by computer industry even since it is developed and marked because of its simplicity, convenience, and efficiency. A variation or reduced sized USB, generally referred to mUSB (Micro USB) is later used in many kinds of consumer electronics, particularly such as PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), digital cameras, mobile phones, etc.
With the development of society and improvement demands of consumer, the function of mobile phone becomes more and more versatile. For example, the modern mobile phone is a combination of MP3, digital cameras, PDAs, and even GPS. Inevitably, data transmission between the mobile phone and a computer become more and more frequently.
In order to download and upload data from a mobile phone to the computer, a USB cable assembly is widely used, and which generally includes a standardized USB 2.0 at one end for the computer end, and a mUSB at the other end for interconnection with the mobile phone. As long as there is a connection to the mobile phone, there is a potential risk of damaging the electronic components within the mobile phone because of accidental electrostatic discharge which will surge into the mobile phone through the interconnection between the mobile phone and the computer. Therefore, there is a risk that an electrostatic discharge can be generated when the mUSB is mating with the exterior equipment thereby damaging the electrical component within the mobile phone, for example, electronic components mounted onto a printed circuit board of the mobile phone.
Chinese Patent No. CN 2579029 discloses an electrical connector mounted onto a printed circuit board. Said electrical connector includes at least an insulative housing, a plurality of contacts received into the housing, and a cover mounted onto the housing. Each contact includes a base portion retained into the housing, a contact engaging portion in order to contact with a contact of a mating connector, and a tail portion in order to connect with a first soldering pad formed on the printed circuit board. The cover at least includes a top plate and two opposite side plates in order to surround a top and two opposite side portions of the insulative housing. And the electrical connector further comprises a spring member assembled onto the housing. The spring member comprises a main portion, a coping portion and a bottom portion, wherein the coping portion and the bottom portion separately disposed on two ends of the main portion and parallel to each other. After the electrical connector assembled, the coping portion of the spring member is contacted with the top plate of the cover and the bottom portion is contacted with a second soldering pad formed on the printed circuit board. Meanwhile, the printed circuit board further includes an electrical element and a related circuit, wherein the electrical element can selective and electrically connect with the contacts. An input of the electrical element is electrically connected to the tail portion of the contact by the related circuit and an output of the electrical element is electrically connected to a grounding circuit. And the second soldering pad is electrically connecting to the grounding circuit through the printed circuit. Therefore, when the electrical connector is mating with the mating connector and an electrostatic discharge is generated, the electrical element will break through a critical voltage and electrically connect with the contact such that the excess-voltage is removed by connecting with the grounding circuit by the electrical element and protect the electrical member mounted onto the printed circuit board.